From the "discovery of being weak and far from God’s splendour", one "eventually gets to a surprise: on our side is God-Emmanuel, who for Christians has the loving appearance of Jesus Christ, God made Man": these are the words of Benedict XVI in today’s catechesis as he commented Psalm 143, used in the Psalter of the Liturgy of the Vespers. "The hymn opens with a blessing explained the Pope that is an exclamation of praise to the Lord, celebrated with a little litany of salvific terms: He is the safe, steady rock, He is the loving grace, He is the protected fortress, the defensive shelter, the liberation, the shield that wards off the attacks of the evil. There is also a martial image of God who trains his faithful to fight, so that they can learn how to tackle the hostilities of the environment, the dark powers of the world". "Before the Almighty Lord, the prayer, even in his regal dignity, feels weak and fragile commented Benedict XVI -. So, he makes a profession of humbleness" and feels he is “like a breath”, "like a passing shadow, thin and insubstantial, immersed in the flow of the time that passes, marked by the limit that is the creature’s own". (to be continued)
